24 FEBRAURY 2023

Topic 1: Neutral citation system

Context: Chief Justice of India announced that the Supreme Court will adopt a “neutral citation system” for its judgments.

Key details:

• What is a “citation”?
  • A case citation is essentially an identification tag for a judgment.
  • It would contain:
    • a reference number,
    • the year of the judgment,
    • the name of the court that delivered that judgment, and
    • a shorthand for the journal publishing the judgment.
• What is a neutral citation?
  • A neutral citation would mean that the court would assign its own citation distinct from those given by traditional Law Reporters.
    • Law Reporters are periodicals or annual digests that publish judgments, often with an editorial note to make it accessible for lawyers to refer to precedents.
• Significance of Neutral system:
  • Judgments mention citations while referring to precedents and often use citations from different Law Reporters.
  • With artificial intelligence (AI) enabled translation of judgments and transcribing of court proceedings, a uniform citation is necessary.

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Topic 2: CCR-5 mutation for HIV

Context: A 53-year-old man from Germany, referred to as the Dusseldorf patient, has become at least the third person to have been “cured of HIV” with the virus not being detectable in his body even four years after stopping the medicine.

Key details:

• This was achieved with a bone-marrow transplant from people carrying a specific HIV-resistant genetic mutation.
• CCR5 mutation
  • The HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) mainly attacks the CD4 immune cells in the human body.
    • It reduces a person’s ability to fight off secondary infections.
  • The CCR5 receptors on the surface of the CD4 immune cells act as doorway for the HIV virus.
  • However, the CCR5-delta 32 mutation prevents these receptors used by the HIV virus from forming on the surface, effectively removing the doorway.
  • Only 1 per cent of the people in the world carry two copies of the CCR5-delta 32 mutation.
    • They got it from both their parents .
  • Another 20 per cent carry one copy of the mutation, mainly those of European descent.
  • Those with the mutation hence are almost immune to the infection, although some cases have been reported.
• Significance of transplants:
  • With the mutation existing in very few people and nearly 38.4 million people living with HIV across the world, it would be very difficult to find a matching donor.
  • Even if donors were to become available, it is highly unlikely that bone marrow transplants can be rolled out for all those with HIV.
  • This is because it is a major procedure with high risks associated, especially that of the person rejecting the donated marrow.
  • There is also the likelihood of the virus mutating to enter the cells through other mechanisms in such persons.

Current treatments for HIV

• Although there are no cures for the infection at present, the disease can be managed using antiretroviral therapy.
• Antiretroviral medicines:
  • These medicines suppress the replication of the virus within the body, allowing the number of CD4 immune cells to bounce back.
  • The drugs have to be taken for life because the virus continues to persist in reservoirs across the body.
  • If left untreated, the virus destroys a person’s immune system and they are said to be in Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome stage (AIDS) where they get several opportunistic infections that may result in death.
• Is any vaccine available?
  • Although there is no vaccine for HIV, there are Pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) medicines that can be taken by people at high risk of contracting the infection.
  • PrEP reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99 per cent.

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Topic 3: Jaipur Declaration

Context: The 18^th UIC World Security Congress, jointly organized by Railway Protection Force(RPF) and the International Union of Railways (UIC), concluded with the adoption of the Jaipur Declaration.

Key details:

• “Jaipur declaration” outlines an actionable agenda for UIC to explore innovative approaches that can help global Railway organizations achieve their long-term goal of safety and security
• About UIC
  • The UIC (Union International Des Chemins) or International Union of Railways established in 1922.
  • Headquarters: Paris.
  • It is the worldwide professional association representing the railway sector for research, development & promotion of rail transport.
• About Railway Protection Force (RPF)
  • Railway Protection Force (RPF) is the prime security and law- enforcement organization in the field of Railway Security in India.
  • Constituted as a federal Force in the year 1957, RPF is responsible for security of railway property, passenger and passenger zones.

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Topic 4: Yamunotri temple

Context: The Uttarakhand government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for laying a ropeway from Kharsali to Yamunotri temple.

About the temple:

• Yamunotri Temple is situated in the western region of Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand.
• The temple is dedicated to Goddess Yamuna, and has a black marble idol of the goddess.
• The idol is made of polished black ebony marble with exquisite carvings.
• The temple is flanked with two beautiful springs Surya Kund and Gouri Kund which spout hot and coldwater respectively.
  • The Suryakund is also the setting for an important Shila is called the Divya Shila that is worshiped.
• The Yamunotri temple is an important part of the Char Dham Circuit in Uttarakhand.
• Architecture:
  • The Yamunotri temple was built in the AD 1839 by the famous Garhwal monarch Tehri Naresh Sudarshan Shah.
  • However an earthquake destroyed large part of the temple.
  • Subsequently the Maharani of Jaipur Gularia Devi got the temple repaired in the 19^th Century AD.
  • This temple is built in the Nagara pattern of architectural style.
  • The temple is built by granite stones that are sourced from the surrounding mountains.
  • The top of the temple contains a medium conical shaped minaret.
  • The temple interiors consist of Garbha Griha or sanctum sanatorium.
  • There’s also a Mandap or assembly hall where pilgrims gather for Darshan and prayer.

Char Dham/Chota Char Dham UttarakhandThe Chota Char Dham is an important Hindu pilgrimage circuit in Uttarakhand.It is located in the Garhwal region.The circuit consists of four sites:YamunotriGangotriKedarnathBadrinathBadrinath is also one of the four destinations of the longer Char Dham.

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Topic 5: Linking Aadhaar to voter ID

Context: Over 60% of India’s 94.5 crore voters have linked their Aadhaar to their voter IDs, the Election Commission (EC) disclosed in a Right to Information response.

Key details:

• Tripura had the highest rate of Aadhaar linking with 92%.
• After Tripura, Lakshadweep and Madhya Pradesh occupy the second and third spots, respectively, with over 91% and 86% of voters having provided the number.
• Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka both fell shy of 71%, whereas the number stands around 63% and 61% for Tamil Nadu and Kerala, respectively.
• The State with the lowest Aadhaar registration by voters is Gujarat, where only 31.5% have linked the document to their voter ID.
• Less than 34% of voters in Delhi had their Aadhaar linked.

Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021

• The Act amends the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Representation of the People Act, 1951 to implement certain electoral reforms.   
• The Act says that the electoral registration officer may require a person to furnish their Aadhaar number for establishing their identity.  
• If their name is already in the electoral roll, then the Aadhaar number may be required for authentication of entries in the roll.
• Persons will not be denied inclusion in the electoral roll or have their names deleted from the roll, if they are unable to furnish Aadhaar number due to sufficient cause as prescribed.
•  Such persons may be permitted to furnish alternate documents prescribed by the central government.

Is Aadhaar-voter ID link mandatory?

• The step is voluntary in nature to the extent that it says that no person can be denied inclusion in the electoral roll or any entry deleted because of the inability of an individual to furnish or intimate Aadhaar number.
• However, such inability or non-submission must have sufficient cause as may be prescribed.
• Rule 26 B and Form 6B under Registration of Electors Rules, 1960:
  • Rule 26B was added after the amendment to provide that every person whose name is listed in the roll may intimate his Aadhar number to the registration officer.
  • Form 6B provides the format in which Aadhaar information may be submitted to the electoral registration officer.
  • Form 6B provides the voter to either submit their Aadhaar number or any other listed document.
    • However, the option to submit other listed documents is exercisable only if the voter is not able to furnish their Aadhaar number because they do not have an Aadhaar number.
  • To that extent, the element of choice that has been incorporated in the amendments seem to be negated or at the very least thrown into confusion.

Concerns:

• It violates individual privacy by mandating the linking of Aadhaar details with voter identity cards;
• It goes against the Supreme Court judgment that limits the use of Aadhaar to the financial and welfare benefits given by the government, and bars the unnecessary expansion of the scope of Aadhaar to other areas of life;
• It may lead to large-scale deletion of names either inadvertently or deliberate targeting;
• It is not really voluntary, as only a set of reasons can be given for those who cannot or do not wish to give their Aadhaar number;
• It may help political parties to profile voters as favourable or unfavourable.

Related cases

• In Puttaswamy, one of the questions that the Supreme Court explored was whether the mandatory linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts was constitutional or not.
  • The Court observed that the mandatory linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts was not only for new bank accounts but also existing ones, failing which the individual will not be able to operate their bank account.
  • The Court held that depriving a person of their right to property for non-linkage fell foul of the test of proportionality.
  • It needs to be considered whether requiring an Aadhaar holder to mandatorily provide Aadhaar for authentication or verification would not be considered violative of their informational autonomy (right to privacy) which would allow them to decide which official document they want to use for verification and authentication.
• In Lal Babu Hussein (1995), the Supreme Court had held that the Right to vote cannot be disallowed by insisting only on four proofs of identity.
  • Voters can rely on any other proof of identity and obtain the right to vote.

Operational difficulties

• The preference to Aadhaar for the purposes of determining voters is puzzling as Aadhaar is only a proof of residence and not a proof of citizenship.
  • Therefore, verifying voter identity against this will only help in tackling duplication but will not remove voters who are not citizens of India from the electoral rolls.
• The estimate of error rates in biometric based authentication differ widely.
  • As per the Unique Identification Authority of India in 2018, Aadhaar based biometric authentication had a 12% error rate.
  • This led the Supreme Court to hold in Puttaswamy that a person would not be denied of benefits in case Aadhaar based authentication could not take place.
• Civil society has highlighted that linking of the two databases of electoral rolls and Aadhaar could lead violation of the right to privacy and surveillance measures by the state.
  • To address these concerns, one needs to have enforceable data protection principles that regulate how authentication data will be used.

Conclusion

• The Aadhaar number is not a proof of citizenship and is meant to be issued to residents, while only adult citizens who are resident in India are eligible to vote.
• Matching the Aadhaar number to the electoral roll in order to perform verifications is not a foolproof process.
• Self-reported errors in the Aadhaar database are higher than those in the electoral database.
• There is also evidence that Aadhaar-linkage with voter identity cards, as in the Assembly elections in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh recently led to the arbitrary deletion of eligible voters on a large scale.
• The Election Commission of India should limit itself to utilising existing proofs for voter authentication and Aadhaar declaration should remain voluntary.

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Topic 6: Cyclone Freddy

Context: Cyclone Freddy made landfall along Madagascar’s south-eastern coast recently.

Key details:

• It is a Very Intense Tropical Cyclone.
• Freddy travelled around 7,200 km from the southeast Indian Ocean to Madagascar in 15 days.
• This is the first time since 2000 that a cyclone has moved such a long distance from the south-eastern parts to the south-western parts of the Indian Ocean.
• It is highly unusual for cyclones to be sustained for such long time periods and travel such long distances.

What is tropical cyclone?

• Tropical cyclones are violent storms that originate over oceans in tropical areas.
• They are known by various names:
  • Cyclones in the Indian Ocean,
  • Hurricanes in the Atlantic,
  • Typhoons in the Western Pacific and South China Sea, and
  • Willy-willies in the Western Australia.
• Conditions favorable for the formation and intensification of tropical storms are:
  • A warm sea  – a temperature in excess of 26 degrees Celsius to a depth of 60 m
  • Abundant and turbulent transfer of water vapour to the overlying atmosphere by evaporation
  • Presence of the Coriolis force
  • Small variations in the vertical wind speed
  • A pre-existing weak low-pressure area or low-level-cyclonic circulation
  • Upper divergence above the sea level system